So, just finished polishing my cv for the year. gotta mail it Sunday to about 160 colleges in kansai in the hope that someone, somewhere, will need a qualified instructor in April 2005. Got the uni experience last term and continuing on this term, though without as many classes. But one can hope. There's always kids teaching if all else fails 
Saturday, though, Fumi's got a hula performance that night. Expect pics.
So, I promised a bit about working here in Japan. Basically, if you have an undergraduate degree, you're in for teaching. imho the best way is to get work before you come through one of the big conversations schools, or "eikaiwa," or come over with JET. You'll find tons of sites on all of that.
Some more adventurous folk come over here on a tourist visa and hope to find work while they're here and do a visa run to Korea. I've known guys for whom this approach has worked, but they seem to be at the lower end of the payscale at the outset. Once you're here for a while, everything evens out.
Wages have been falling throughout the industry, though, so remember the days of making buckets of cash are looong gone (ony say that cuz an FOAF came over thinking exactly that.) Lots of places start full time at 200-220000/ mo. Depending on where you're from, that might sound like a lot, but keep in mind the cost of living and staying sane. Going out is a huge drain, for example.
Nevertheless, you can still have a pretty good lifestyle here if you get at least 250 k starting out. After that, it's the same as anywhere: you meet people and find new opportunities.
All this is just from Kansai, though. I know there's a lot more varied work available in Tokyo. I also imagine that the work scene might not be as tight in the smaller cities where wages and costs are lower.
Saturday, though, Fumi's got a hula performance that night. Expect pics.
So, I promised a bit about working here in Japan. Basically, if you have an undergraduate degree, you're in for teaching. imho the best way is to get work before you come through one of the big conversations schools, or "eikaiwa," or come over with JET. You'll find tons of sites on all of that.
Some more adventurous folk come over here on a tourist visa and hope to find work while they're here and do a visa run to Korea. I've known guys for whom this approach has worked, but they seem to be at the lower end of the payscale at the outset. Once you're here for a while, everything evens out.
Wages have been falling throughout the industry, though, so remember the days of making buckets of cash are looong gone (ony say that cuz an FOAF came over thinking exactly that.) Lots of places start full time at 200-220000/ mo. Depending on where you're from, that might sound like a lot, but keep in mind the cost of living and staying sane. Going out is a huge drain, for example.
Nevertheless, you can still have a pretty good lifestyle here if you get at least 250 k starting out. After that, it's the same as anywhere: you meet people and find new opportunities.
All this is just from Kansai, though. I know there's a lot more varied work available in Tokyo. I also imagine that the work scene might not be as tight in the smaller cities where wages and costs are lower.